Untold
by The Anonymouse2
Summary: Every dragon has a story. But not every story is told. Allow me to tell this one. Four dragons of different tribes. Enemies become friends. And enemies challenge the happy ending. But without a villain, a story can have no heroes. For heroes rise up and face down terror and fear and death to triumph. And the ending will be glorious. Because now, these dragons' stories are told.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

...

 _The wires stretched from him out to the necks and legs of other prisoners, who all had them as well. One went to his left, to one leg of a moon silver Icewing on the next column, who was asleep with her tail over her nose._

...

 _As the arena began to fill with moonlight, Clay saw the prisoner to his left, the Icewing, with her silvery head stretched toward the sky, singing._

...

And Everest screamed as she was dragged away, screamed until she was clubbed on the head by that grinning orange Skywing. Screaming when she woke up, chained. And then the screaming stopped. Because what use was screaming when you were trapped in a nightmare?

The thing with nightmares was that you usually woke up. But Everest had a feeling that she wasn't going up to this nightmare. Because this nightmare was real.

…

 _Then she saw the last dragon-sunset orange, flames flickering from his nose, with a jagged tear on the tip of his left wing. He flew slower than the others, bringing up the rear, and his head swung back and forth, dark eyes searching the ground below them_

…

 _He paused, beating his wings back to hover in the air for a moment._

…

 _Tsunami hated to admit it, but it was a good idea. She helped Clay wrestle the tree over until it lay heavily across the orange dragon's back and wings. The Skywing tried to push himself up, but the tree kept him pinned to the sand._

…

" _Wait," the Skywing rasped. His voice was hoarse and deep. He wriggled, lashing his tail across the sand. "Don't leave me like this."_

…

Inferno wished this was a nightmare. His brother was his family, his friend. His _brother_. They would be together. They would stay together. That's what Inferno had thought. But he should have known. He was grown up now. And grown ups had to deal with life.

Who would have thought life was such a nightmare?

…

" _Pearl, report," ordered the queen after the dragons had eaten in silence for a while._

" _No change," said the elegant pale green dragon in the treasury pool. "All your jewels are safe, as always. No scavengers can get to them, and no dragon would dare to try."_

…

There were nightmares, and then there were dreams. Pearl liked to think she lived a steady blend of both. As she swam, she thought. As she thought, she swam. She was almost there. She glanced up sandy beach clung to the land, waves lapping against it. It only traveled back a short ways before the trees of the Mudwing forests ate it up.

Pearl scanned the beach for any dragons. Footprints churned up a section of the beach, drawing her attention to a fallen tree, and underneath that tree was a dragon. An enemy. Pearl had no idea what to do. Everything was fine, except for the dangerous proximity of a Skywing to _you know what_. He appeared to be in more trouble than he was trouble, but Pearl didn't know if it was a ruse or what.

Because dreams can turn into nightmares very fast.

…

 _Fatespeaker sat quietly for a moment, but he could still hear her breathing. "Of course, if you're not down there, I sound totally insane right now," she said. "There's a Rainwing sitting next to me who is giving me the weirdest looks. Hey there. What's happening? Nothing weird, just talking to a pit. Carry on looking miserable, don't mind me. Oooo, his ears just went a little yellow," she reported. "Does that mean amused or terribly annoyed? What do you think?"_

…

And Jaguar was out of his nightmare. He was rescued and saved. There was nothing else in the world that could compare to the feeling of freedom, freedom after imprisonment. Nothing at all. And Jaguar was indescribably relieved and grateful and joyful and everything in between.

Because the thing about nightmares is that you wake up from them.

But they still never seem to go away.

…

Forgive me for the plunge into this story's depths. I may have done something wrong. But the story still goes on. Of course, again, there may be some fault in my storytelling skills.

So let me begin where all stories begin.

At the beginning.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Everest's story begins outside of Queen Scarlet's palace. (Actually, it begins in the Icewing kingdom. But we are focusing on a different portion of Everest's story. One that is not her birth and growing up and clawing through the ranks of her kingdom, but one that affects more lives than just her own. Although her life plays a very large part of this.)

The sun glimmered through the clouds, pierced with orange, pink, and red expelling their previous nighttime black. The sky was lightening slowly, fading from gray to violet to orange as it met the sun. Soon the sun would be past the horizon and the clouds would be white and the sky would be blue and it would be another perfect day of death in the Skywing kingdom.

But now it was just a perfect sunrise. Perfect, except for the four Icewings slithering across the perfect rocky ground. Their scales glittered watery orange in the light of the rising sun and Everest hissed quietly.

"I had hoped we would be in and out _before_ the sun came out."

"Well, you know what, we just have to work with it." Muttered another Icewing, this one stark white. Borealis.

"Shh. The next patrol's coming." The pale blue dragon who had spoken clung to the walls of the palace, as did the others, hoping that the blasted Skywing guards were as dumb as they looked.

"Permafrost?" Everest said, her way of asking if the coast was clear.

"Yup." Permafrost whispered.

"Step number two; get inside the Skywing palace without getting caught." A fourth dragon, paler than Permafrost but bluer than Borealis, said.

"Got it. Frostbite, would you do the honors?" Everest gestured to the nearest guard tower.

"Of course." The fourth dragon said, slinking towards the guard, claws bared. A few seconds later, he was dead.

Everest, Borealis, and Permafrost slipped silently to where Frostbite was standing, wiping the blood from her claws on the grass.

"Remember; stealth." Everest murmured as her talons reached to open the door into the Sky palace.

And they found about fifty Skywings waiting for them.


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Inferno's story begins many years ago, but we are going to pick up where Everest left off. Where was Inferno while Everest was staring at fifty Skywing soldiers? Staring at four invading Icewings trying to get inside his queen's palace.

The Icewings hissed, stepping backwards slowly, working their jaws in case they needed to use their freezing death breath.

"We mean you no harm." A silvery Icewing said, talons stretched out in front of her.

"You're lying." A Skywing replied, orange as Inferno.

"I know." The Icewing shrugged. And then her companions snapped open their jaws and charged, covering most of the dragons in the doorway with blistering cold and ice. Inferno ducked, and the frost shot over his head, skimming his horns. He shivered. And lunged.

The Icewings fought hard, slicing and biting, ducking and dodging and blasting the Skywings with their ice breath. But it takes time to work up ice breath, more time than it takes to work up fire, and whip thin tails could only lash so many times before the owner of the tail tired. And four Icewings could only do so much against fifty Skywings.

So all four fell, exhausted, and the red and orange swarmed over them, binding wings and tails. And one of them would not stop screaming, thrashing and fighting with every bit of energy in her, even though she had not the energy to stand. So Inferno watched as the leader of the Skywing troop, Tornado, swung his tail and knocked the side of her head. And the Icewing fell unconscious, and the screaming stopped. But the Icewing's face had been mid-scream, and before it relaxed as the moon-silver Icewing drifted to a forced sleep, the rage and pain and even fear there was so strong that Inferno had felt almost sorry for what was going to happen to her.

But she was an Icewing.

And Icewings deserved to die.

As she most certainly would.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Everest woke up screaming.

Because the nightmare had begun.

And there were Skywings there, Skywings that told her to shut up or else. She screamed on anyways. So they clubbed her again, and when she woke again, the wires were off of her neck and legs but her wings were still bound. And she was led onto the sand and she was still screaming and clawing. A voice boomed overhead and dragons cheered.

 _I can't be here._ Everest thought desperately. Because this nightmare was the arena. And the only end to her nightmare was death.

But she fought anyways, circling the Seawing on the sand. He leapt at her suddenly, and the crowd chanted his name. Hurricane. Everest slashed at his snout, drawing blood. He growled and sliced back, but Everest dodged. She wasn't an ordinary run-of-the-mill Icewing soldier. She was something much more formidable, as Hurricane was about to discover.

And the screaming stopped and the killing began.

She ripped forward, muscles stretched taut as she bounded across the sand to Hurricane, who had retreated once more. Growling, she hissed a burst of frost at him, which he easily dodged, eyes tracking it until it solidified on the wall behind him, cold. He turned back to scoff at her, only to find Everest whamming into him, claws outstretched. He didn't have time to scream before she had found his heart and sliced it in half. She pulled her claws from his body, now limp and lifeless, and hissed at the cheering crowd.

 _Disgusting._ She thought, as the Skywings came again to drag her back to her prison, her perch, and as the crowd began to throw gems and coins at her, which landed on the sand, and some on Hurricane's lifeless body, being dragged away as well. _Utterly disgusting_.


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Inferno's eyes pierced through the darkness, searching. There were few who would actually attempt to enter Scarlet's palace that wasn't a Skywing, and an example of those few would be the band of four Icewings they had captured the week before. Inferno frowned in remembrance. It was strange that there were only four. It certainly wasn't an invasion force, with only four dragons, but they had fought with extreme skill. And apparently were continuing to do so in the arena. Perhaps they were an assassination force, sent for some important Skywing figure. Inferno wouldn't know. He was just a guard. The only thing he knew was that they had received a tip from one of their spies that some Icewings would be trying to get into the palace. No one ever would tell a lowly guard all the details pertaining to a half-hearted Icewing invasion. Nobody at all.

"Still nothing." Inferno reported to his brother, Tornado. Tornado grinned in response.

"I know. Nothing ever seems to happen on this side of the palace."

There were four dragons on guard that night with Inferno, all his friends. Peak, Simmer, Windwhip, and of course his brother, Tornado.

"I'm going to go check on Peak, alright?" Tornado said to Inferno. The guards were positioned at twenty foot intervals, with Tornado, being in charge of their little band, going where he pleased.

"Alright." Inferno kept his eyes trained on the horizon. Nothing but black. He heard the slither of Tornado's tail as he walked towards Peak. It grew fainter as he drew farther away.

And then he heard a scream.

It came from his left. He whipped around to see Peak, fallen on the ground, blood burbling from a huge gash in her neck. He rushed to her. Tornado was nowhere in sight, but Windwhip and Simmer were on their way over as well.

Peak was dead.

"What...what did this? Where is Tornado?" Inferno stammered. Peak's pale red scales were stained dark with blood, and her eyes were empty.

"Where indeed?" A voice murmured, and Simmer choked on a scream and fell, a huge gash on his back. Standing behind him was an orange dragon with blood on his talons.

"Tornado!" Inferno gasped.

"Surprise!" Tornado laughed. "Now, as much as I _hate_ murdering my friends, I can't leave any witnesses behind to tattle when I tell Blister all the _wonderful_ little secrets about a palace you learn when you guard it. So." He grinned malevolently.

"You're _betraying_ your tribe?!" Windwhip roared, eyes blazing.

"Yes." Tornado replied easily. "For a lot of gold."

He launched himself towards them. Inferno didn't want to, but he lashed out, scratching Tornado's arm. Windwhip leaped on Tornado during the pause that followed, and Tornado bit down on Windwhip's neck. Inferno joined, biting the weak point on Tornado's flailing tail. Tornado roared, and Windwhip slashed at his snout. Tornado threw the red dragon off of him and Inferno leapt, grappling with Tornado.

Tornado clawed at his brother's flapping wings, clipping the edge of the left one. Inferno roared in pain and struck a blow at Tornado's head, sending him reeling. Windwhip struck Tornado's head again, knocking him unconscious.

Inferno wanted to die. His own brother had just tried to kill him. His own brother had just murdered two of their best friends. He had murdered Simmer. He had murdered _Peak_. Inferno heard a roar behind him as a late night arena battle between one of the Icewings and a Sandwing reached an exciting point. Inferno sighed.

Because he hated nightmares.

And he had just been thrown into one.


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Everest scowled at the roar that went up as she snapped the Sandwing's neck. She wondered where her teammates were. Permafrost, Frostbite, Borealis...she knew they were in the arena. She hadn't seen them fight yet, though.

As she was dragged back to her perch, she saw a Skywing burst in. He was saying something. Another Skywing followed, dragging a third behind him. All three were bloody, and the third looked dead.

But what made her narrow her eyes was the fact that she knew two of the three. The dead one and the one dragging him. They had sentenced her to this torture.

She hoped the third one really _was_ dead. Or maybe not. Maybe she wanted to kill him herself.

…

And she got her wish. The sand crunched around her talons as she hissed furiously.

"Everest of the Icewings, survivor of _two_ arena battles, against that dastardly scoundrel, the traitorous _TORNADO OF THE SKYWINGS_!" The dragon roared, and the crowd booed and hissed in response. Everest didn't know what a Skywing could have done to get thrown in the arena. She didn't care. The dead one hadn't been dead when he was dragged in last time she had seen him, but he was as good as dead now.

The fool had led the Skywing band that had captured her and the others, and now he was in the same position she was. Only she would walk out of here alive, and he wouldn't. Oh, revenge was sweet.

His mocking smile made her blood boil as much as any ice dragon's can. With a roar, she striked, determined to rip that smile off of his snout. His head bobbed out of the way, but she still snagged his neck. Gripping it tightly, she swung him into the wall, and he slumped downwards, blood trickling from the wounds in his neck.

"Too easy." Everest growled as she slunk towards him, relishing the feel of his blood on her claws.

"Isn't it?" The Skywing chuckled, and the chuckle turned into a snarl as he heaved himself up and launched himself at her. Everest dodged effortlessly and snapped her tail through the air, narrowly missing his wings. He whirled and struck again, and again Everest dodged. But his tail came swinging back through the air, slamming into the side of her head and knocking her to the ground.

Tornado pounced on her, talons wrapped around her throat.

"Want me to stop going easy?" He mocked, tightening his grip. Everest snarled.

"Nope."

And the look of surprise on his face as she sunk her back talons into his underbelly and flipped up and around, turning the tables so that she was on top was one that she would remember forever. Everest laughed darkly. And ripped into his chest.

Because nightmares have their ups.


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

And Inferno hated that Icewing with all the hate in his heart, because he had never managed to hate Tornado. There was a pit that had been dug when Tornado killed Peak, and it had deepened with each word Tornado had uttered since then, and when he spoke his last, it became bottomless.

And he knew he should be glad, because Tornado was gone and couldn't hurt him anymore, but Tornado was his brother and though he had never hated Tornado, he had almost stopped loving him. But those little strings of love clung with an iron grip to Inferno's heart, and he couldn't escape.

So he hated that moon-silver Icewing. Sitting up on her perch, with her claws covered in his brother's blood. Yawning as she stretched out and fell asleep. And she didn't wake up the next day, just snoozed with her tail over her nose as a Mudwing was deposited on the perch next to hers, and as the queen's 'champion' flapped around the Mudwing. That Icewing just slept. And he just hated her. Until his heart had hated itself dry and all that was left was emptiness and a wish that everything had turned out differently.

And Scarlet's banquet was fine, but the Sandwings were angry and rude, and the scavengers squeaked too much, and all the prey was underfoot and Inferno couldn't deal with it. So he slipped away and paused at an eerie sound. A haunting melody rung through the sky, coming from the arena. A melody that sounded familiar. And the singing started, one voice, than more and more until the entire arena filled with sound that drifted to Inferno. And he hoped the dragonets really _were_ coming, to stop the war and send the Sandwings away and let peace reign so that he could stop fighting and think and escape his nightmare.

And then Burn yelled and the singing stopped. But in that moment, something had been born in the empty pit of Inferno's chest.

And the moment was over.

But the hope remained.


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Everest was almost happy. She had found Frostbite and Permafrost. And about four other Icewings, but at least she was with her friends. She didn't know what for, or why they were there, or where Borealis was, but at least Frostbite and Permafrost were there.

"Bring out the Icewings!" A voice sounded, and _then_ Everest knew, and she saw two dragonets, a Seawing and a _Nightwing_ , of all things. She had never killed a Nightwing before. How exciting.

And she hissed.

And then blackness engulfed the arena and she heard the flapping of wings.

And a huge black Nightwing slammed out of the sky.

And Everest didn't pay much attention to what he said, or what anyone said back. But she saw him flick his tail and Nightwings rained from the sky.

And then she died.


	9. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Inferno was tired. He had barely slept last night, and now here he was, zooming all over Pyrrhia searching for five dragonets. _Dragonets_ , for moons' sakes. And, like always, no one had told him anything.

They swooped over a beach, and Inferno took a moment to pause and flap in place, his eyes scanned the sand below him, and he thought he saw a flash of gold disappear into the trees. He stretched open his mouth to let out a yawn, smoke curling from his nostrils.

And he was tackled out of the sky.

…

"Wait," Inferno rasped to the dragonets. He didn't know why they had attacked him or who they were, but he couldn't be left here. He lashed his tail across the sand desperately. "Don't leave me like this."

 _Please please please._ His mind cried. He hated being trapped. He couldn't move his head to see in more than a straight line. The Nightwing dragonet stepped into his sight and said something that sounded like it came out of a scroll. The dragonets exchanged quick banter, and leaves were draped over his head. He couldn't see a thing.

He heard wingbeats as they took off, and wriggled again, fruitlessly. He was all alone.

And being alone was his greatest nightmare.


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

As I said before, dreams can turn into nightmares very fast.

And Pearl's dream was teetering on the edge.

She didn't know if this dragon was hostile or what, but he seemed to be panicking, thrashing his tail and head as if desperately trying to relieve himself of the leaves draped strategically over his eyes. She was too far from any Seawing villages to get backup to help her investigate this, and if she left, he would probably free himself and be gone by the time she returned with more dragons.

He could be useful. He could have information about Burn, where she was attacking next.

Oh, if only she hadn't suggested hiding Queen Coral's jewels so close to the mainland! Then she wouldn't be in this position!

Mustering her courage, she crept onto the sand, the crunch of the sand beneath her talons seemingly amplified by the silence of the beach. Nervously, she reached towards the Skywing's head, noticing his ears pricked up, listening.

She snatched the leaves off his head and threw them behind her.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" She growled, resisting the urge to shake the tiny itchy sand grains off of the webbing between her claws. Because _that_ would not be imposing and commanding at all.

"My name is Inferno." The Skywing responded in a in a hoarse voice. "And you are?"

"None of your business." Pearl frowned. "Why so close to Seawing territory?" She gestured towards the crashing ocean. "Are you a spy?"

"No, I promise." The Skywing said openly. "I was part of a search party."

"Why are you under this tree?"

The Skywing frowned.

"I don't know, actually."

"Hmmph." Pearl scowled. "I'm going to have to take you to someone who can interrogate you properly. Stay put."

The Skywing raised his brows, and Pearl remembered he was stuck under a tree.

"Fine. But when I free you…" Pearl trailed off as she skirted the tree. Frowning, she rammed into it experimentally. It rolled forwards a little, towards Inferno's head.

"Oof." The Skywing said blandly.

Pearl snorted and flapped over the tree, standing next to the Skywing's head. Heaving with all her might, she slowly shoved the tree down Inferno's back and off his tail. As soon as the tree was off, the Skywing leapt into the air, flapping his wings. Pearl rolled her eyes and stepped firmly on his tail, keeping him grounded.

"Moons be blasted!" Inferno cursed, falling back to the sand with a thump.

"Nice try." Pearl said, quickly grabbing his forearm and releasing his tail. "Let me find some seaweed for a nice little blindfold…" She slowly dragged him towards the ocean and began feeling through the waves with a talon.

Inferno stood patiently for about a minute. "Aha!" Pearl cried, grasping a slimy green strand of seaweed over her head. The Skywing looked at it with disgust and skepticism. Pearl lowered it and shot him a look.

"What else am I supposed to blindfold you with?" She said with no small amount of exasperation.

Inferno's muscles bunched and she knew what was going to happen a second before it happened.

But she still couldn't stop him as he twisted his arm out of her grasp and shot into the sky.

But Pearl wasn't giving up that easily.


	11. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

Pearl crouched in the underbrush, shooting a disgusted look at the mud she was talon-deep in. She had been chasing that blasted Skywing for who knows how many days now. Across the _mud kingdom_ for moons' sakes. The _mud kingdom_.

And now she was dirty and sticky and the Skywing was nowhere in sight. She wanted to just give up and go home. What had possessed her to go on this crazy goose chase? She didn't care about any bloody Skywing anymore. She had been away from the sea too long. She set her teeth and turned around, ready to spread her wings and fly back home.

Only to discover five hostile Mudwings baring their teeth at her. She took to the sky, flapping as hard as she could away from the Mudwings. She glanced down at the steadily receding mud kingdom. The rainforest was approaching.

 _The rainforest._ She thought. Maybe she could hide there. The Mudwings surely wouldn't follow her, and if they did, would have a hard time finding her. And then they would leave and she could fly home. Pearl looked over her shoulder at the Mudwings chasing her and collided with something.

She hurtled backwards before regaining her balance, hoping she hadn't lost too much of her head start on the Mudwings. And then she realised that the very dragon she had run into was the very dragon she had been pursuing this whole time.

"Inferno." She hissed. "Nice to see you again." She hoped he could sense the sarcasm dripping from her tongue. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have some business elsewhere." She glanced back at the Mudwings, who were much closer now. Then Pearl darted around the Skywing and down towards the rainforest.

Inferno followed her.

Pearl dove closer to the trees. She looked back again to see the Mudwings had turned around, but Inferno was now pursuing. She cursed inside her head and veered up, whirling to face the Skywing behind her.

He slammed into her, claws scraping across her scales. She roared in surprise and lashed back, cutting a gash in his wing. He roared and lost his grip on her, falling down to the rainforest below. Pearl hovered for a moment, watching him crash a dragon-shaped hole in the leafy canopy below. Then she swooped down. She might as well complete what she had come all this way to do.

She was going to capture this Skywing.

Her cuts stung in the wind as she dove; the first wounds inflicted on her purposefully by another dragon. Her sheltered life as a council-member had kept her safe inside the sea kingdom. And it had just come to an end.

This was personal now.


	12. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Jaguar looked up in surprise as a huge orange dragon came crashing through the rainforest and nearly landed on top of him. He yelped a little and leapt backwards, scattering the leaves and roots he had been carrying. The dragon lay still.

"Are you dead?" Jaguar asked, tentatively stepping towards the dragon. Pale green fluttered through his scales, eluding the huge masses of light orange curiosity. The only part of him not bursting with color was a black band of scales around his neck.

The dragon groaned a little, answering Jaguar's question as certainly as if he had said 'No, not yet, anyways.' Jaguar poked the dragon's wing with an orange claw, eliciting another groan. There was a huge gash in it, Jaguar noticed, and a smaller, older looking tear on the edge of the same wing.

"You don't look too good." Jaguar noted aloud. The dragon rolled his head to face Jaguar and shot him a look that said 'Of course not!'

"I can help." Jaguar continued conversationally, green finally eaten up by the orange on his scales. "I'm a healer, you know. You don't look like a Rainwing. Or a Nightwing. What tribe are you?"

"Skywing." The dragon gasped.

"I've never seen one of _those_ before." Jaguar exclaimed, shifting his scales to a darker orange that matched this Skywing's.

"No kidding." The dragon rolled over, and struggled to stand. Jaguar winced at the obvious difficulty he was having.

"Careful. Does it feel like anything is broken?" Jaguar said.

The Skywing rolled his shoulders and worked his wings, testing.

"Nope." He said finally. "Just sore."

"Oh good." Jaguar smiled. "I have something that can help with that right here." He bent and rummaged through the pile of plants that he had dropped earlier in his surprise, surfacing with a blue flower. Jaguar crushed it in his talons and sprinkled the resulting powder into the Skywing's waiting talon. "Sprinkle that where it hurts." Jaguar instructed.

Soon after doing so, the Skywing blinked in surprise.

"That actually worked. Thank you Rainwing." The Skywing smiled a little.

"Jaguar."

"Inferno."

"Pearl." A third voice spoke from the trees. A slim green dragon stepped out.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are we not doing introductions?" She asked innocently. Inferno narrowed his eyes and growled.

"Step away from the Skywing, 'Jaguar'." Pearl said. "He's mine."


	13. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

A day or so earlier, something else was happening. Not Starflight escaping from the hidden Nightwing home with Fatespeaker, not Pearl chasing Inferno across the mud kingdom, (although those both did happen at that time, the former in a completely different story), but an Icewing carefully picking his way through a canyon filled with dead bodies.

The canyon was where Queen Scarlet deposited the bodies of dragons who perished in the arena. Prisoners and criminals, they didn't get a proper burial. They got to rot together in a canyon, filled with the putrid stench of death.

Finally, the Icewing found what he was looking for. He pulled something small and glittering out of a pouch slung around his neck, and fastened it around the neck of a corpse.

And with a gasp, Everest opened her eyes.


	14. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

"Borealis!" Everest gasped. She looked around her, looked at all the dragon bodies. "What…?" Borealis placed a talon on her arm.

"What do you remember?" He said softly, searching her eyes.

"I was in the arena...with Frostbite and Permafrost...and then...darkness...a big black dragon said something...and then...I died." Borealis hissed quietly.

"Frostbite and Permafrost. Did they…?"

"Yes." Everest whispered, eyes full of fear. "Why am I alive again?"

"This." Borealis tapped the thing around her neck, an amulet with a thin, sparkling silver chain and a pale blue-silver stone inlaid in silver glimmering against Everest's moon-like scales.

"What is it?" Everest asked.

"An old animus touched amulet that can bring dragons back to life. It was hidden in the ice kingdom because of its power, erased from scrolls and dragon memory, but I found it."

"How…?"

"How is not important. Only that these runes," he tapped the strange symbols etched in the pale blue stone. "Dictate that only the dragon who placed the amulet around a dead dragon's neck can remove it, and I am never going to let you die again."

"But why? Why should I be alive when Permafrost and Frostbite…?" She choked on the words 'are dead', still trying to process everything.

"There are more amulets. Hidden in each kingdom. They have the same power as this one. And we will find them and bring back Permafrost and Frostbite."

"Where to start?"

"The easiest, of course." Borealis replied, gently twining his tail with Everest's.

"The rainforest."


	15. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

"That's stupid!" Jaguar exclaimed. "He can't be 'yours'! You can't _own_ another dragon. Unless you mean he's yours like you want to mate with him, in which case," Jaguar spread his wings. "I'm not stopping you!"

Pearl and Inferno both shot him confused and disgusted looks.

"No I don't want to _mate with him_!" Pearl scowled. "I meant 'he's mine' as in, he's my _prisoner_ , not like…" She glanced at Inferno and shivered. "A Skywing! Nooooo."

Inferno frowned a bit.

"Likewise."

Jaguar shrugged.

"Too bad. I was wondering what your dragonets would look like."

"WHAT?!" Pearl and Inferno roared in unison.

"Ugh, you're so...this isn't...back on track, people!" Pearl barked. "This Skywing is coming with me."

"So you can...y'know." Jaguar winked. "Make eggs." He whispered the last part. Inferno winced.

"Enough with the mating idea!" Pearl shrieked. "No mating is going on here! Shut up, Rainwing." She delivered a scathing death glare at Jaguar, who's scales shifted to a shameful purple. Of course, he didn't stop smiling or mouthing 'feisty. Good catch.' at Inferno.

Inferno did his best to ignore the Rainwing.

"Now, Skywing." Pearl turned towards the orange dragon.

"I have a name, you know." Inferno said.

"I don't actually care. Now, are you coming peacefully or do I have to fight you?"

"Um, guys?"

"Shut _up_ , Rainwing." They both snapped at Jaguar.

"I just thought you'd like to know that two really glittery dragons are standing over there watching us."

"WHAT?!" Pearl and Inferno whirled to see two Icewing seated in the foliage.

"Oh, don't mind us. This is quite entertaining." The one to the left spoke, moon silver and with a small smile on her snout.

Inferno looked like a Sandwing had just stabbed him in the heart; stricken. He raised a shaky talon to point to the dragon who had spoken.

"Aren't...aren't you dead?"


	16. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

"I was." A flicker of confusion showed on the Icewing's face, gone as quickly as it had come. "But not anymore."

"You should have stayed dead." Inferno spat out.

"What's happening here?" Jaguar asked, scales curious orange again, shot through with flickers of yellow excitement. Because, besides being captured and experimented on by Nightwings, then rescued by the Rainwings and their new queen, this was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him in his life.

"Indeed." Pearl echoed, frowning. "Dragons don't come back to life, so I don't know what mental problem you have, Icewing."

The second Icewing hissed at Pearl.

"She _did_ come back to life. You don't know anything."

"Pretty necklace." Jaguar said amiably to the first Icewing, shifting his scales to match the pale blue stone and silver chain.

"...Thanks. I like...yours." The Icewing gestured vaguely to the band of black around Jaguar's neck.

"Oh, silly. That's not a necklace!" Jaguar laughed. "That's just my scales."

"Why are they black?"

Jaguar shrugged.

"Because."

The Icewing furrowed her brow.

"Hmm. That's nice. Anyway, _I'm_ curious to know why a Seawing and a Skywing are having an argument in the middle of the rainforest."

"And _I'm_ curious to know why a dead Icewing is walking around the rainforest with an escort." Inferno growled.

The second Icewing snarled.

"Borealis brought me back to life, and we're looking for more amulets to do the same to our other friends."

"...what?" Pearl said, confused.

"Amulet. Brought me back to life. Animus touched. There are more, which we are going to find and use to resurrect our dead friends."

"That's...crazy! An amulet that can bring dragons back to life?!"

"Amulet _s_." The Icewing reminded Pearl.

"You can't find those things! If they're found, who knows what kind of dragons could get to them?! What kind of dead dragons they could bring back to life! You can't do this!"

"Only the dragon who put the necklace on can take it off." The moon silver dragon said icily. "So I think we're good."

"No, no! What if the dragon who put it on was tricked into taking it off! You'd be dead and the amulet would be free for anyone to use!"

The Icewing's wings drooped.

"She's right." She turned to her companion, tears glistening in her eyes. "Borealis, we _can't_ do this. As much as I miss Permafrost and Frostbite…" She sighed. "Take off the necklace. Kill me again. Make sure no one ever gets this amulet." Borealis' eyes widened.

"NO!" He roared, startling Jaguar, Pearl, Inferno, and the Icewing. "I can't...you're not dying again." His voice cracked slightly. "I have found a way to _cheat death_. And I am not going to just throw it away."

"Borealis…" The Icewing placed a talon on Borealis' forearm.

"No, Everest." Borealis turned, refusing to meet her eyes. "I'm going to get those amulets. If you're not coming with me…" He took a shaky breath. "Then I'll do it alone."

He took off into the sky, dodging tree branches and vines. The sun glinted off his stark white wings blindingly as he broke through the canopy and soared away.

The Icewing with the amulet stood frozen, wings angled up, face turned towards the sun. She inhaled slowly and turned to Pearl, Inferno, and Jaguar.

"I have to stop him."


	17. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

"So...what just happened?" Jaguar asked innocently. The other three dragons turned to look at him incredulously. "Oh...right." Jaguar slowly nodded, indicating his understanding and recollection of the events that had taken place just moments ago. But his yellow scales betrayed flickers of violet guilt, proving he hadn't remembered, nor had he ever known in the first place.

Pearl rolled her eyes.

"Of course we have to stop him!" She turned her attention back to the moon silver Icewing standing across from her.

"I said _I have to stop him_. As in, me, singularly."

"Well, I'm helping." Pearl stated. All her life she had dreamed of adventure, and now she had it and she _definitely_ wasn't going to let it slip through her talons.

"Me too!" Jaguar chimed. He didn't know what he was helping _with_ , exactly, but these dragons were exciting so they could count him in!

"Don't look at me." Inferno scowled. "That Icewing killed my brother, so I am _not_ going _anywhere_ with _her_."

"She did what now?" Jaguar asked, surprise rippling over his scales. "That wasn't nice." He frowned in the direction of the Icewing.

"Um, it was the _arena_. Kill or be killed. Plus, he had it coming, lousy traitor. No _Icewing_ would _ever_ betray her tribe." The Icewing glared at Inferno, who delivered a hostile scowl back. It seemed that in a matter of seconds the two would be at each other's throats.

"So! Hi everybody! My name's Jaguar, and I'm a healer in the Rainwing village. And all of you are…?" Jaguar jumped in between the Icewing and Skywing and smiled nervously.

"We've already been over that." Pearl flopped her tail over her folded talons.

"Yeah, but I forgot." Jaguar admitted, somewhat sheepishly.

"Good grief. Rainwings really _are_ the dumbest tribe in Pyrrhia." Inferno said incredulously.

"Well I wouldn't say that!" Jaguar's ruff flared in indiginance, speckled red and orange.

"Fine. We'll do introductions again." Pearl interjected, the role of peacemaker shifting once again. "I'm Pearl. I'm part of Queen Coral's council."

"I'm Inferno." The Skywing huffed. "I'm a soldier, and I'd rather kill that Icewing than play your silly introduction games."

'That Icewing' sniffed angrily.

"Already had your shot at killing me. Didn't go so well, did it? Oh no wait, that was your brother. Sorry, it's _so_ hard to distinguish one traitorous orange Skywing from another." She snarked, eyes narrowed at Inferno and tail lashing dangerously.

"Uh." Jaguar cleared his throat. "Your name?"

"Everest." The Icewing growled. "And that's all you're getting out of me."

"Everyone!" Pearl barked. "We don't have any time to waste! So stop squabbling and let's get to wherever Borealis is headed before he does!" She spread her wings and lifted off into the sky with no further speech. Miraculously, Everest wordlessly soared off after her, followed by a bright pink Jaguar, and a highly reluctant Inferno (who may or may not have been dragged along by Jaguar).


End file.
